U.S. News & World Report's annual college rankings are out

UC San Diego named 8th in public universities

The U.S. News and World Report’s 2013 Best Colleges guidebook is out today, with some local universities receiving high rankings on various lists.

UC San Diego was ranked 8th best public university — identical to its ranking in that category a year ago — and 38th best in the nation.

“This is a reflection of the quality of our academic enterprise and our diverse strengths across disciplines — from the arts and humanities to the social and physical sciences,” Chancellor Pradeep Khosla said in a statement.

San Diego State University was ranked No. 8 for universities whose students graduate with the least amount of debt — with 44 percent of SDSU students graduating without any debt. SDSU’s average student debt amounted to $16.400.

SDSU was ranked No. 90 in the top public university category and ranked among the top 20 universities nationally for ethnic diversity.

“Just as important as the number of racially diverse students is their continued academic success. SDSU students from historically underrepresented ethnic groups graduate at nearly the same rate as white students, essentially closing the achievement gap at SDSU,” Aaron Bruce, SDSU’s Chief Diversity Officer, said in a statement.

Point Loma Nazarene University was ranked No. 17 in the regional universities west category and the University of San Diego was ranked No. 92 in the national universities category.

The guidebook ranked 281 public, private and for-profit national universities based on such things as academic reputation, graduation and retention rates, student selectivity, financial resources and alumni giving.

Harvard University and Princeton University remained tied for the top of this year’s list of best national universities while Williams College was No. 1 in the liberal arts colleges category.